Heretofore, there has been developed by a vehicle transmission manufacturer a shifter mechanism for a simple and quick connect of a vehicle transmission shifter to the cable of a vehicle transmission. Briefly, this mechanism includes a shift lever pivotally mounted to several different gear positions including "Park," "Reverse," "Neutral," and "Drive" which positions are established by a detent plate or element. Extending from the shift lever is a rod having a connector on the end which mates with a connector attached to the transmission cable. This mechanism is constructed so that the lever shift mechanism can be snapped into position for connecting to and actuating the cable. The shifter allows the operator to shift between operating positions, such as "Park," "Reverse," "Neutral," and "Drive" gear positions. It is important that the operating length of the transmission shift cable be properly adjusted so that the vehicle transmission will shift to a desired operating position when the shifter is moved. Even a few millimeters of misadjustment can cause significant and improper positioning of the shifter relative to the operating positions of the transmission, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and warranty expense. If the shifter is located within the console prior to assembly of the console in the vehicle, adjusting the shifter relative to the transmission shift cable has been virtually impossible without removing the housing of the console. Further, it has been virtually impossible to manufacture the cable connector mechanism extending from the transmission cable and the cable connecting mechanism of the shifter with sufficiently close tolerances because of the variances in the component tolerances and also because of the variations that occur during assembly of the vehicle.
Therefore, it has been desirable to design a combination console and shifter mechanism in which the shifter mechanism is mounted within the housing of the console and the assembly of the console with the shifter mechanism therein can be installed simultaneously as one unit and thereafter the tension in the transmission cable can be properly adjusted so that the shifter mechanism will shift the vehicle transmission to the proper operating positions.